Heaven and Earth
by jack4701
Summary: it is a prequel to cradle. this is how i think Eithan became an underlord


**Chapter-1 **

As Eithan looked down at the Blackflame city, letting his perception flow over the city, millions of people celebrating the great victory their empire has gained over the Seishen Kingdom. Hearing so many people talk about their victory put a genuine smile on his face. As he was watching, he tried to remember the first time he came to this city.

A seven-year-old Eithan Arelius just walked through the portal with thousands of his relatives. He never made the pilgrimage before. He watched the blackflame city with wonder. But he pulled his focus away from the view because unlike everyone else who was there, he did not come to the blackflame city to meet with relatives or pay respect to the first patriarch. He came here for a specific task, to access the Arelius family library and to find a cure.

He followed the others to the Arelius family headquarters in the Blackflame city. It was a modest building with a statue of the first patriarch in front of it. He silently made a note of the resemblance but he was not here for the pilgrimage like the others. He asked a young woman where the library was and she looked at him strangely. It's not often that an Arelius asks for direction. He felt her sensing his core and a look of sympathy came over her eyes. She pointed towards the library, he bowed and walked quickly in that direction. He walked in to the library hoping to see a glowing orb that contained all the knowledge in the universe but it was the same as any other library. It contained shelves of books, scrolls and dream tablets." Is there anything I can help you find young one" he startled to find an old man standing behind him. He looked as though he was a highgold but Eithan couldn't tell because he didn't yet have his copper sight. He bowed low to the highgold and asked" If it doesn't intrude the elder then may I use the orb". The man frowned at him and he felt slight tingle in his spirit. He had been scanned. "and why might a foundation child be in need of a divine treasure?" the man asked. Eithan suddenly felt frightened. He knew that someone like him had no right use gifts left by a monarch but the orb can be used anyone of the Arelius blood family as long as they have the bloodline ability. He knew he had to convince this man to allow him to use this orb but he didn't know how. After taking a moment he decided to tell the highgold the truth. "as the elder can see I still have not reached the copper stage in my advancement and I was hoping that the orb may have a solution to this problem.

The highgold man now looked at him with pity." Maybe with more training or a different cycling technique you'll be able to progress" he told Eithan but both he and Eithan knew that his problem wasn't training or technique." I have blockage in my madra channel. It allows me to cycle but I can't convert vital aura into madra. I was hoping that the orb may have information that will allow me to remove the blockage or somehow circumvent it." "I can't help you" the old man told Eithan." the orb is not in this library. It is in serpent's grave." Eithan felt his spirit crushed and it must have shown in his face because the old quickly added "But you look around if you want. We have a lot of path manuals, refinery methods and soulsmith legacies. Maybe something here can help you". As the old man was leaving he turned around and asked "what do I call you?". "I am Eithan" Eithan told him. "well it's a pleasure to meet Eithan. My name is Rei." said Rei.

It's been three weeks since Eithan gained access to this library and in that time he has come no closer to achieving his goal than when he walked in. As Rei walked in he stood up and bowed" greetings elder Rei". "did you sleep here?" asked Rei." "I am sorry elder but I didn't have anywhere else to go" Eithan said apologetically. "Did you find anything useful?". Eithan was relived to able to change the subject but the new conversation was also unpleasant." Nothing, I have found several methods but they are all impossible for me. One method requires a 50 thousand scale elixir and another 30 thousand more in pure scale, another requires a spirit healer or I can eat a fruit from a thousand-year-old tree. Rei whistled" the least difficult option is probably the elixir but you have to be truegold to be able to afford something like this". " I have failed" tears swelled up in Eithan's eyes. Rei reached out a hand and wiped away Eithan's tears. "You didn't fail. You're just trying in the wrong place. You don't have the fortune or natural treasures needed for these methods so instead of trying to remove the blockage, look for a cycling technique that can work around the blockage." "I can't" said Eithan. "there isn't any more time. The pilgrimage ends today." " Do you have any family you can stay here with?" asked Rei. " no, I don't have any family." Rei looked at him with pity, knowing that many families would cast aside a child with a weak soul. " you can stay here if you want. I need someone to sweep the floor." Eithan looked at him at with awe. He never imagined someone would give him such opportunity. He kneeled and touched his head to the and cried " Thank you elder!".

It's been a month since Eithan started to work for Rei. He swept floors, arranged book shelves and on rare occasions maintained scripts. In that time he looked at hundreds of cycling techniques, only three of them didn't require vital aura. The first technique moves madra efficiently called the narrow rivers technique, second increases the spirit's ability to recover madra quicker even if compatible vital aura is not available and the third technique increases the madra capacity of the core. It is called the heaven and earth purification technique. But Eithan found the technique too difficult. It's impossible to use in a real life situation. He asked rei about this problem and got this advice in return. "Many paths use certain cycling techniques only for advancement. They use other cycling techniques for battle or mundane work. Use heaven and earth purification technique for advancement." So Eithan used the other two techniques for his everyday work but every night after his work was done he spent three hours cycling the heaven and earth purification technique and slowly he started to notice some changes. His madra capacity had double and he almost forge a scale. He knew that he was on the right path.

Eithan came running into the library, yelling excitedly "elder Rei look! Look!". He pointed at his core. Elder Rei opened his copper sight and looked at Eithan. He was surprised to see that Eithan had become a copper. He didn't think it was possible for someone to advance without using vital aura. As a researcher this peaked his interest. But he didn't share this thought with the boy. Instead he told him "finally, most your age looks toward iron and you just turned copper at the age of eight." Eithan was hurt by Rei's words but bowed and said "yes elder". "well, remind me tomorrow to take you to Yin. She'll find a job for you." Eithan looked confused "a job elder Rei?". "yes, since we mostly do sanitation and maintenance around the empire, it doesn't require a great skill in the sacred arts so even a copper can be of use." "but I thought I worked for you" said Eithan. " no, you wanted to use the library and stay here and I let you. Now you'll need a real job so that I can stop paying for everything you need." Eithan was heartbroken and was he was leaving he looked at Rei and asked "will I still be able to use the library?'. Rei smiled at him and said "This library is open to any member of the Arelius family. You are always welcome here." And so began Eithan's new life as janitor.

His new job was quite difficult. he usually spent most of his day scrubbing floors and carrying scrolls and messages. He spent his morning doing physical exercises and some combat training with other coppers. Since Arelius family is not a warrior sect so they didn't put too much effort on combat training but Eithan tried hard any way because without a path, he will have to relay on only this. Despite the hard work, there was an upside to this. Arelius family didn't pay their workers generously but after lodging and food he had ten scales left every week. He ate eight of them and saved the other two. With the help of the scales and cycling his core continue to grow.

" Elder Rei what type of ironbody do you think I should get?' asked Eithan."Well people usually get ironbodies that complement their paths but since you don't have one. Our only requirement is cheap and accessible." Rei then pulled a book from a shelf and handed it Eithan. It is called Origins and Selection of Ironbodies. "This book has all the popular types of ironbodies and the methods to reach them." Eithan spent the next two days reading the book and the next two weeks questioning Rei about it."How about the Drifting body?" "Not unless you have a silk cocoon made of cloud plant tucked away somewhere that I don't know about" "Well, I know many smaller sect uses the bloodforged body so that can't be too difficult." " those sect live in the wilderness, where venomous animals are more common. In the Blackflame city such poisons would be costly. Especially the ones that work slowly enough for you to cycle them through madra channel."" Well which one would you recommend?" asked Eithan. Rei took the book from him and pointed to two bodies. The puppeteer's ironbody and the raindrop ironbody. Both of these seem pretty unimpressive to Eithan, one grant more balance and the other is only good for running away. Rei saw his hesitation" look boy, yes there are much better ironbodies out there but these are the only ones you can afford and many great sacred artist used these bodies so don't you sulk. Now which one will it be?". "The raindrop ironbody". "A good choice. A lot less painful than the rest."

The training while not as painful was still quite difficult. He had to run several laps everyday as fast as he could. Another part of the training was catching pigeons on the rooftop of the Arelius headquarter. The worst part came at the end of the day when all the other copper children would throw rocks at him and he had to use two staffs to knock them aside. This left him with many cuts and bruises. The training was hard but at the age of ten Eithan became an iron. After advancement was complete, he was washed cleaned and given a new set of clothes because he had out grown all of his old ones. Then Rei took him out to eat. It was to the 5th ranked restaurant in the Blackflame city. Considering the hundreds of restaurants in Blackflame city, being 5th is quite an honor. Eithan was very surprised by all this. He asked "elder Rei why are we here?". "It is a tradition in Blackflame empire that after reaching iron a feast is thrown in honor the sacred artist and also to give him nutrients because otherwise his body will eat itself." Eithan paled after hearing this news. Rei laughed after seeing this reaction." Don't worry you still have a day to go before that happens. So how do you feel?". "like everyone is moving slower than before."" That's expected. The trick to an ironbody is learning your limit and know that even though you're fast, there always going to be someone much faster." "Thank you for your advice elder" said Eithan. "Enough with the elder nonsense just call Rei. I am not that old" replied Rei angrily. Eithan was surprised by this change in conversation but he was even more surprised when they brought in the food. He never so many types of food at one place before and they all looked delicious. He wanted to dig in but he waited for Rei who was older and higher ranked. Rei chuckled at his expected look and said " just dig in". Eithan eagerly started eating. As he was stuffing his face with food a thought suddenly came to him" el-Rei, how long before I reach jade?". "Just reached iron and you're already jumping for jade, huh". " sorry I was just thinking ahead". Rei stroked his beard" well it will take much longer this time. Jade is a higher gap and even though there will wage increase for reaching iron. It won't be much." ."Is there any way to increase my wage ?" asked Eithan. "well for higher paid job you need special skills like soulsmith, scripting or refiner. Or have a combat path." Eithan frowned "A combat path?". "Well, most people join the Arelius family because they have no combat capability. They expect those who have the bloodline ability to steer them away from trouble." Eithan went to Yin next day to see if he could join the scouts. Yin looked at him dismissively " All scouts must be jade or higher. Otherwise your bloodline ability is not strong enough to detect danger from far enough away." Eithan was not deterred." there must be something you can do?" he asked. " You can join the sewer cleaners but remember it is a dangerous and disgusting job and requires scouts to go with them. So are you sure you want to join them?". In an hour Eithan descended into the sewers.

Working in the sewers was as horrible as one can imagine. It involved fighting remnants, natural spirits and sacred beast. It also included cleaning crap, removing blockage and maintaining sewage flow. But being sewer cleaner had three good things about it. First he was now paid fifty scales a week, second he became a much better fighter even without a combat path and third there are many things that flows down to the sewer, things that may not be valuable to a truegold but still valuable to him. But even with all these work he still spent time with Rei. He taught Eithan how to draw and when Eithan asked him why he needs to learn how to draw, Rei's answer was that it will help his scripting in the future. Rei is constantly surprised by Eithan. He has changed quite a bit from the weak desperate child that he was to intelligent, determined young man he is becoming. Once he reaches jade, anyone who knew him from the homeland won't be able to recognize him.

**Chapter-2**

Eithan looked down from the cloudship. There was a village beneath them and even at this height Eithan could sense the people down there. His bloodline ability grew much further once he reached jade and he was able to become a scout. But with all his success came a speedbump. Neither he nor Rei knew how someone can reach gold without a remnant and he didn't know of any other pure path sacred artist. So a year after reaching jade, they finally had opportunity to travel to Serpent's Grave. Rei told one of the elders that he had information about a new path that needs to be added to the orb.

It took them a month of travel to reach the Serpent's Grave. Eithan felt a fear that he hasn't felt since he reached copper. A fear of reaching the end of his journey. He realized the problem soon after reaching his 14th birthday. Even though he reached jade almost a year ago, he didn't feel as though he made enough progress as jade and when he asked Rei how he can reach gold without a remnant, Rei had no answer. Now, their only hope is the Arelius family library. A gift left by a monarch may have the answers he's been looking for all his life. As they entered the library, Eithan felt a little disappointed. He expected the orb to glow and have a majestic presence. He didn't expect it to look like a dull copper ball. He reached out with his senses and touched the orb. Suddenly he heard a voice say "hello I am the Omni-codex. How may I help you today?". Startled, he turned around but saw only himself and Rei. Then he realized that the device was using dream madra to communicate. He asked out loud " what can tell me about reaching gold?". A core made of light appeared in front of him, an illusion, as the orb started speaking." There are three paths to gold." The first is to insert a remnant to your core", as it talked the very thing happened to the core of light. "The second method is by increasing your madra density and the third is to attach a divine treasure to your core which is specifically made for the path." Eithan looked at Rei and asked "which is the easiest?". "Probably the second one but it will still take you much longer than everyone else because everyone else receive the madra required from their remnant but you will need scales and potion and with your current salary it will take you five years or more to reach gold." "are there any pure madra paths?" Eithan asked the orb. "there are two pure madra paths recorded in this device. One is the path of cleansing river, it a path of spirit healing. Second is the path of seven principles, it is a path of combat based on spiritual attacks."Eithan's heart started to beat faster. A pure madra path, not only that a combat path. It is everything he wanted." Show me the techniques from the path of seven principles." "Negative, the techniques requested are not recorded in this device." "where can I learn this path?" "the path manual is currently in possession of the sage of a thousand eyes" Eithan's heart sank. He didn't know why the sage of a thousand eyes have such a book but he will never see it. That is guaranteed

It had been three years and a seventeen-year-old Eithan watched from a far as the portal to his homeland opened. he had dreams of returning home and showing his family how wrong they were to treat him as they did. But that dream is now shattered. He will one day reach lowgold, then twenty-thirty years he will reach highgold and maybe before he dies, he will reach truegold. That is not a great accomplishment. Eithan sighed and return to his work. When he returned home he found two truegolds waiting for him. He bow low and tried maneuver around them but they stood in his way. One of the man asked "are you Eithan Arelius?". Eithan was confused. A truegold had no reason to look for him. Why were two now standing in front of his door? He replied "yes I am, is there anything I can help you with elders?". "yes, you can come with us".

Eithan hopped on a cloud with the two truegolds and soon realized that they were moving towards the portal. Soon they passed through and Eithan was back in his homeland. They flew over a giant palace. And landed on a beautiful garden. There waiting for them was a woman, maybe ten years older than him. She was tending to the plants. As they approached she stood up and both of the truegolds bowed. She told the golds to leave and they replied in unison "it is our lives' greatest honor to serve the sage". Eithan felt a sudden chill going down his spine. He didn't know why the sage wanted to meet him but nothing good will come from it. She looked at him for a moment and then suddenly a door opened up behind her and book came floating out. "touch it" she said. Eithan didn't want to touch it but he couldn't refuse a sage so slowly he reached the book and then everything went blank.

Eithan woke up falling through the sky. He had no idea why he was falling. Maybe he upset the sage by being too slow to touch the book. Then suddenly he stops falling. In front of him was a shrunken old man with a long white beard. The old man looked at him with a bemused look. "I am the Script Lord; I've created these seven principles in the hopes that someday someone will realize the true potential of pure madra. But to make sure a worthy student inherits my insights, I've left seven tasks and if you can complete them, the book will attach to your core and you will advance to low gold and open your soul space. Your first task begins now." A table came into existence and on top of it was a puzzle. There almost a thousand pieces. Eithan began straight away. He didn't understand why someone would need puzzles for learning the sacred arts but he has to try and get this book. He first used all the corner pieces to create a border for the puzzle then he slowly attached other pieces as they seemed to fit and by the end he was looking at a white board with a black writing that said "you passed the first task". As soon as he was done the Script Lord appeared behind him. "Let's move on" he said. Eithan followed him. A question came to his mind and before he could stop himself, he asked " why a puzzle?"." It was to see how smart you are. Most paths don't require cognitive ability but the use of pure madra requires insight and creativity. Now, pay attention. The path of the seven principles is a combat path. You may use pure madra for other mundane tasks but the techniques you learn from these principles are for battle." As soon as he was done speaking, a dozen armored men with weapons appeared and they attacked him all at once. He fought them as best he could, moving away from their weapons at the last minute and avoiding attacks. " you won't win by only defending." Said the Script Lord. Eithan refocused on attack, taking their weapons and using it against them and avoiding attacks in such a way that they woud hit his enemies instead of. He really began to appreciate his combat training and all the fighting he had to do in the sewers. After a while all the armored men were down and Eithan was left panting and had several cuts on his body. He suddenly felt his world shift and he was at the bottom of a mountain. The Script Lord was also there, standing infront of a giant boulder. "greatness in all thing lie in determination. You must carry this boulder to the top the mountain." Eithan looked at the boulder. It was three time bigger than him. His body was not suitable for steady strength. He searched the surrounding hoping to find something but there was no such luck. He ripped his robes and use them to make a rope. He then tied the rope around his waist and around the boulder. As he started moving his way up the mountain, the cold begin to seep into his bones and he could sense sacred beasts nearby. Twice he had to fight off a pack of vultures and the air gets thinner as the gets closer to the top. When he was twenty feet from the top the rope broke and he had to chase the boulder another hundred feet before he could stop it. When he finally got it to the top, he found the Script Lord waiting for him. "well done, now four more to go." The next three test were quite different from the last two. He didn't have to fight or do some insane task, he only answered some questions. The 4th task involved some scripting, the fifth task was questions about madra and types of sacred arts path, most importantly what is their strength and weakness. The sixth was about the uses of pure madra. The Script Lord was now holding the book of seven principle in his hands. He started speaking" others have come as far as you did but none finished this last task. Are you ready?". Eithan nodded his head. "now, why do you practice sacred arts?" Eithan pondered at the question. He looked at the Script Lord and asked "what are you?". "I am memory construct, inserted in the book." "but are you connected to the original Script lord or to the sage " no, now answer the question" "I practice sacred arts so that I can ascend to the heaven and fulfil the first patriarch's challenge." the memory construct looked at him and said " you have passed." A smile came across Eithan's face. But the construct continued " there are two things you should know. One, you can advance by learning the techniques in the book. You won't need pills or scale. Two, your reason for practicing sacred arts will help you advance to underlord. Now, continue on your path and grow."

Eithan suddenly returned to the garden. The sage was looking at him expectantly. "So, what did you see?" she asked. He was whizzing and couldn't reply. Once he caught his breath, he replied" I don't remember.". she frowned at him. He knew that fate worse than death is reserved for those who lie to sages but the one thing he knew in life is that you don't show all your cards at once. " I guess that is to be expected. Though I thought you would be different since you bonded with the book." Eithan grew alarmed "bonded, what do you mean bonded?". "This book is bonded to you as a remnant would as you advance true will give you a path. Something you didn't have before."" Why did you not tell me that this would happen?". The sage of a thousand eyes looked at him coolly and Eithan suddenly began to sweat. He was standing in front of someone who could evaporate him with a single thought. He should been more careful but the sudden changes have knocked him off balance. "I helped you advance to lowgold and given you a pure madra path, which are rarer than phoenix feathers and you make demands of me." Eithan threw himself on the ground and prostrate himself. "I would never question the honored sage. I am grateful for what I have received. I am only overwhelmed by sudden changes so please forgive any disrespect I have shown." "forgiveness is not required. Train and hone your path and you will not lack rewards in my service." Eithan sighed in relief. When he raised his head, he saw that the sage had already left. Eithan slipped his hand in his pocket, grasping the marble. He was now one step closer to his goal.

**Chapter-3**

Training in the path of seven principle was much harder than he thought. He couldn't replenish his madra through vital aura and even with the use of pills and elixir he received from the sage it was difficult. Yes, he has three times the madra reserve of most low gold but the techniques in the path of seven principles require an incredible amount of madra. He needs to advance to highgold to be able complete these techniques but he can only advance by mastering these techniques. Then he had an idea. He can try and fight in a gambling den. if he wins then he will be given a big reward. The sage maybe sponsoring him but she hasn't given him any pills or elixirs that's can help him advance. That is understandable since she could not waste resources on something that may not work. He was able to master one technique; it's called the empty palm. If this technique does what it says it can then he'll be able disrupt his opponent's technique and evade their attack using his speed and senses. But it's still a gamble since he has never used this technique in a fight and other sacred artists will have more than one technique. His only advantage is no one knows his path so they won't expect such attack but then again it's only a theory.

Eithan started his plan by training in one of the sage's facility. Once he was able to finish a training course, consisting of dummy soldiers, under 5 seconds, he decided it was time to enact the second part of his plan. It is to enter a fighting tournament at the local arena. It is not uncommon to have these tournaments. It allows people to test their skills, increase their rank and earn a few scales along the way. He doesn't expect to win the competition but if he does well enough, maybe he can prove to the sage that he has improved and she will give him better pills and elixir.


End file.
